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<title>You'll Accomplish Nothing by Waiting by Darkestwolfx</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23296885">You'll Accomplish Nothing by Waiting</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkestwolfx/pseuds/Darkestwolfx'>Darkestwolfx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>March Prompt a Day 2020 [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Quote, Sleepless nights, prompt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:54:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>913</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23296885</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkestwolfx/pseuds/Darkestwolfx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You couldn't always be ready and waiting.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>March Prompt a Day 2020 [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You'll Accomplish Nothing by Waiting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>17: 'You'll accomplish nothing by waiting'</strong>
</p><p>Summary: You couldn't always be ready and waiting.</p><p>Words: 897</p><p>Spoilers: None.</p><hr/><p>"Scott?"</p><p>The lounge was too small to pace properly, really.</p><p>"Scott?"</p><p>Sitting down, well - there were plenty of options, but – that just felt too constricting.</p><p>"<em>Scott</em>!"</p><p>Oh, Scott… yeah that was his name, someone was calling <em>him</em>.</p><p>He pulled his head up sharply, almost too harshly with the force, feeling like his neck jammed half-way up. He raised a hand to rub at it, trying to make the action look somewhat natural. He was sure it wouldn't wash, but it was worth a try.</p><p>"Hmm?"</p><p>John stared back at him, holo-graphic, but still human, and those green eyes were boring into his every action and posture. Yeah, the younger knew, that was undeniable.</p><p>"Only took you three minutes."</p><p>That was a long time to have zoned out… oops. Because he was probably zoned out long before John started trying to talk to him. Yeah, Scott didn't really know how to describe this situation.</p><p>"Sorry. Uh, what did you need?"</p><p>"I don't need anything. You need to sl-"</p><p>"No, I'm fine-"</p><p>"Scott…"</p><p>"I'm up. I'm here. You know, in case anything happens."</p><p>John gave him probably one of the most scathing looks he'd ever seen grace the red-heads expression. There was nothing really in it, but still, it would have been fear inciting if it wasn't being directed at a brother who the man loved.</p><p>"Nothing is going to happen on the island at this time of night."</p><p>"You never know."</p><p>"Actually, I do know. No earthquakes, no tsunamis, no hurricanes… yeah, you're good. I mean, the whole jungle is probably sleeping."</p><p>"We have night life on this island, you know, John, so-"</p><p>"Yes, I know. Still, sleep?"</p><p>He'd love to sleep. He felt like he hadn't slept properly since… well, since Dad. And the reason he felt like that was probably because he hadn't slept more than a wink since they lost their Father, and that had been… weeks. It had been <em>weeks </em>now since they lost him.</p><p>Nothing was quite the same. There was no 'back to normal'.</p><p>So he'd be alright to go without a little more sleep.</p><p>"Nah. Need to be ready."</p><p>"Will you just go to sleep?"</p><p>He finally found his feet, returning suddenly to pacing, feeling akin to a trapped bull.</p><p>"But what if a rescue comes in?"</p><p>"Then I'll wake you up."</p><p>"That means <em>you</em> staying awake."</p><p>"<em>No</em>, Thunderbird Five will wake me."</p><p>Oh yeah… part of him had known that, but John wasn't that much younger than him, and even so it was hard to remember his brother was an adult too sometimes. Heck, even Virgil was getting there, and since losing Dad, the middle child had definitely stepped up with a command streak that surprised Scott. He wasn't sure where it had come from… Virgil had always been calm, and level-headed, but he'd only been out in the field with Dad a handful of times. Still, Scott wondered if it was that man he was copying, as opposed to his older brother.</p><p>It was one of the many things he no longer knew, but he did know that he needed to reply to John, and that John had just made a perfectly valid point that he had no good answer to.</p><p>"I know, but…"</p><p>"We're humans, Scott, not machines. You cannot function like they can."</p><p>"I know, but Dad-"</p><p>"I'm sure he didn't sit up at all hours."</p><p>There was a moment of uncertainty in that, Scott caught it, but still… Still John sounded very sure of that fact. But he just didn't know how he was meant to shut off.</p><p>"But-"</p><p>"Stop saying that. Go to bed now, and speak to Grandma about it in the morning. She would know what Dad would have done."</p><p>Yes, she probably would have. She was probably the best placed person to speak about their Father now. Scott had never really thought about what Dad would do when there wasn't a Rescue, when they were stuck in this moment of waiting. He'd never asked because there'd never seemed a need to. He was only nineteen, and he'd had no plans of succeeding his Father. Maybe one day he would, but he was planning for that to be a conversation long, long in the making, not- well, not a conversion he never even got to have before leadership was thrust upon him. Before all these decisions and moments were suddenly in his hands with a lack of skills and knowledge built up to cope with them.</p><p>But John was right. Grandma would know. Grandma always knew the answers. Right now he had to trust in that; that was all he could do.</p><p>He sighed. "Ok."</p><p>The brunette wasn't sure <em>how </em>he was supposed to get anywhere close to sleep, but he supposed he could try.</p><p>"Good. Because you know, you'll accomplish nothing by waiting."</p><p>He was generally intrigued to know the answer to that, even though it was far too late for riddles and his head hurt enough already.</p><p>"Yeah? Why is that?"</p><p>"Things never happen when you wait around for them."</p><p>That was very true indeed.</p><p>So, on that note – though not peacefully, or with all resolved, but with some kind of plan - Scott went to bed.</p><p>He stopped waiting for something to happen, and instead allowed himself to do nothing.</p><p>Typically, not even two hours later, <em>something</em> was accomplished.</p>
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